Pipe-tapping machine.



W. B. FORD.

PIPE TAPPING MACHINE.

APPLlGATIofN FILED 1330.17, 1908.

Qlga Patented. 0ct.12,1909.

i, @Cif y (Y WILLIAM B. FORD, 0F DECATU`R,fILLINOIS.

' PIPE-TAPPING MACHNE Specification of Letters Patent.

. lPatent-ed Uct. 1 2, 1909.

Application led December 17, 1908. Serial No. 468,013.

'lh all whom it may concern.'

lle it known that l, lVlnLmM BL Fono, a citizen ot4 the i'nited States.residing' at Decatur. in the county ol Macon and State of Illinois. haveinvented certain new and uset'ul Improvements in Pipeflapping Machines.ot" which the 'following is `a speciticz lloll.

M v invention relates to improvements in machines employed t'or mattino'an opening in a lservice pipe and introdiwmg a connectio'n lhereintowithout interrupting the iiow or permitting the escape ot the contentsot' the pipe.

llerctotore it: has been customary to apply to a pipe to he tapped acasing with inten posed paclting and to operate a drill within thecasingto torni a hole in the pipe to be tapped and thereafter to applv ascrew plug or .so-called corporation cock to control the tlow ot'v tluidthrough the opening'. To pro` .vide for changing the boring bit. thethreading tap. and the controlling cock, the casing hasl been made intwo parts with a gate between them. so that after the opening is madeand it is desired to substitute a threading tap in the drill stock. orafter the opening is tlu'eaded and it is desired to 'introduce thecorporation cock. the gate may he closed lictweeu the parts ot thecasing and will remain elosed under the pressure beneath it. while theupper part ot tl1e casing is' removed to give access to the drill stock.lnasmuch as pressures are often excessive and the gate to close theopening through which the work is carried on is necessz'lrily large, itbecomes necessary to equalize the pressure on opposite sides of the gatehet'orethe gate can be opened; hence, after the upper part' ot thecasing is replaced and wholly connected with the lower part, ithasheretofore been customary to open a small by-pass around the gate. lnpractice unich difliculty has been experienced in establishing tlowthrough this hy-pass owing to the presence ot metal particles and otherdebris, and it even becomes necessary in many instances to shut otil theHow of theI fluid in the public service pipe het'ore the apparatusI canbe opened up.`

Vlt is the object. of my invention to obviate the disadvantageabove?mentioned, and this l accomplish by providing a toy-pass in theite itselt' and havingI this by-pass open by v Fig. l, illustrating theinode sliding movement of the part. thatI closes the bypass, so that anyobstruction is sure to be removed, and for convenience in use andeconomy in construction. well as for the salte otl simplicity anddurability, l produce this sliding' movement hy the means which operatesthe gate, and have it take place as a movement preliminary to theopening ot' the gate.

More specifically, in v invention consists in mounting the gate upon thelever arm and rock shaft. which have heretofore becnused, through the,medium ot' a stem attached to the lever arm, but having an axialmovementy relatively to the gate, so that when'the stem moved upward topress'the gate into position. thestem, as well as thegate, will he heldin closed position lloy the pressure of the Huid. but when the leverswings downward. which may readily be done not-withstanding the pressureot' the fluid, owing' to the small ara. ot' the stem, the stem slides inthe gate until grooves or other spaces permit the flow of tinid throughthe gate, after which the gate may be withdrawn by a continued dowlnvardmovement ofthe lever.

My invention will be fully understood upon reference to the accompanyingdraW- l nig, in which,

Figure l is a vertical sectional view of a tapping apparatus of a knowntype to which mv invention is applied; Fig. isa detail vieu in a ,planetransverse to the plane of ot clamping the machine to the main pipe andalso the location ot the controllin, handle; and Fig. il is a sectioneldetail view of the gate with the sliding stem providing the by-pass, andthe cont rollingparts.

A represents a housing adapted to be clamped to a pipe l through themedimn of a chain t and bolts D.

l) is an upper section of the, housing which is removably mounted uponthe housing A. and communicates with the latter through an opening whichgives access to the pipe B t'or the drilling and other tools.

l is a closure for the upper section E .which carries the threaded lstemG to receive the feed nut H'that is connected' through a volte l and ashoulder K with the drill stock L. and is ad: ted to be rotated bythelever ratchetM. s is well known in devices of this construction, thedrill stock is rotated and fed downward until e hole is drilled in thepipe.B,.after which the yoke I is thrown off to permit the drill stockto be raised out of the lower casing A, after which said lower easing isclosed ott and the upper section E may be removed `to replace thedrilling bit swith a threading tap; the upper section being thenreplaced and the communication between the sections being opened, sothat the drill stock is again fed downward to thread Lthe opening. Thisis' followed by another vclosing oli of the lower casing and removal ofthe upper casing, and the replacing of the threading tap by a so-.calledcorporation cock that must be introduced within the opening before themachine can be removed.

My invention relates to the means for forming a by-pass from the housingA to the section E while the gate is closed.

1 represents the gate which carries a packing 2 adapted to close thepassageway 3 and Llis the lever which carries the gate mounted upon theshaft 5 which carries at its outer end a controlling handle 6. Thehandle 6 is thrown downward to bringthe gate 1 into close relation withthe opening 3, and isof` suiiicientweight to hold the gate 1 to itsseat, so that if the excess of pressure beneath 'the gate isinsufficient to'seatit, it will be-4 held in suoli position until thelpressure in the upper chamber is reduced sufficiently to cause seatingof the gate under the pressure below it. The cock 7 is then opened toallow escape of the pressure in the upper section 3 and cause thepressure beneath the ate 1 to wholly seat the latter and close ott t elower easing A. In order to restore pressure above the gatel, aftersection E has been replaced, gate l is mounted on the lever 4 throughthe medium of a stem 8 having a sliding movement in the gate 1but with alimiting head 9, and threaded into the lever 11 represents the openingthrough gate 1, and in order to effectually close this opening by thepressure beneath the stem, the

t? stem is provided with a conical packing 12,

`while the opening is flared as at 13.

111 represents an annular confining rim on theend of the lever l tolimit the spreading of the packing 12.

While it is obviousthat the stem S might fit the gate 1 loosely enoughto provide the necessary by-pass assoon as the lever swings down toremovel the packing 12 from its seat 13, I prefer to provide the stem Swith .55 grooves or channels 15, so as to get a more `\prompt flow ofpressure medium when the packing 12 is unseated.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the superficialarea of the packing 12 is sufficiently small to enable the operator tothrow the lever 4 downward by manipulating the handle 6, and as soon asthis takes place, pressure will be equalized on opposite sides of thegate 1, or so nearly equalized that by the time the head 9 reaches thegate,

`swinging arm tulcrnmed in the machine, a

the gate will be ready to respond and the com ilete opening is effected.

Tlie packing l may be held in place by any suitable means, such forinstance as the annular plate 1G and the screws 1T. 70

lVith a construction such as above described, it will be obvious thatobstructions cannot be lodged iii the by-pass, or if they seek to settletherein, the movement of the stem 8 up and down will soon dislodge 75them.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A gate for cutting ott communication between the chambers of tappingmachines comprising a swinging arm constructed to be fulcrumed upon themachine, a gate valve adapted to close the opening between thechambersof the machine and constructed with a by-pass opening through it and astem carried by said arni'lj yworking through and movable longitudinallyin the by-pass opening of the gate waive and a valve surrounding saidsteni adapted to close the bypass through which the stem works.

In combination with a tapping machine having chambers, a gate valveadapted to close communication between said chambers, provided with abypass through which to equalize pressure iii the chambers,

a swinging arm tulcrinned in the machine,

a stem carried by said arm, extending through the by-pass ot the gatevalve and having longitudinal movement therein, and a valve surroundingthe stem adapted to close the by-pass through the gate valve when thestem moves to its limit in one direction.

In combination with a tapping machine having cliambers, a gate valveadapted to close communication between said cham- .../f* bers, providedwith a by-pass through which to equalize pressure in the chambers, aswinging arm fulcrumed in the machine, a stem carried by said arm,extending through the by-pass of the gate valve and having longitudinalmovement therein, and a valve surrounding. the stein adapted to closethe by-pass through the gate valve when the stem moves to its limit inone direetion; said valve around the stem being convex and said gatevalve having angular movement relatively to the swinging arm whereby thegate valve is adapted to seat independently ot the exact position of theswinging arm, and the valve around the stem is adapted to close theby-pass at different angular positions ot the gate valve.

4. In combination with a tapping inachine having chambers, a gate valveadapted to close coimnnnication between said chambers, provided with a bv-pass through which to equalize pressure i'n the chambers, a

stein carried by szxi arm, extending through 'S rection in whchfit movesto open the by- 10 the'by-passA of the gate valve and having pass. C I Ylongitudinl movement therein, and a 'nlve The foregoing specificationsigned at Bew surrounding the stem adapted tu close the l IPHHH La, thisllt-h day Uf DC6Illb131908- by-puss ihrnngh the me wily@ Zhen the iVLLIM B. FORD. stein nimes to itslnnlt 1n one dn'ectlon; said stem alsohaving a head engaging the gate l In presence 0f- 'nlve in the directionof unseuting it by the VILL J. MANwN,

movonmnt. of the swinging ann in the dii H. .V. KAISER.

